Monday Papers: Baird Capital targets hiring agency - tips, comment and bids

Financial Times

* Baird Capital Partners Europe is buying Nigel Wright Group for about £15 million.

* Oaktree Capital Management has paid $100 million for a majority stake in Gulmar, the Dubai-based operator of diving support vessels, and invested €200 million in Beluga Shipping, the German-based operator of heavy-lift ships.

* Canal Plus, the French pay-television operator, renews interest in buying a stake in Digital Plus and its chief executive Bertrand Méheut says he is ‘open’ to buying the Spanish broadcaster.

* Pressure is mounting on the Canadian government to block BHP Billiton’s $39 billion hostile bid for PotashCorp as three other provinces joined Saskatchewan to protest against any deal.

* Shigenobu Nagamori, chief executive of Kyoto-based Nidec, has set out plans to buy the electric motor divisions of General Electric and Bosch.

* KPMG partners in Norway and Saudi Arabia have agreed to merge their national fiefdoms with the main KPMG firm in Europe.

The Lex Column

* Perpetual bonds - ‘Perp’ issuance this year is reported far higher than the previous record.

* Rates and pensions - A superannuation plan’s health is not just about discounted obligations.

* European pharma - The sector sells at about the same multiple of expected earnings as the wider stock market.

Other Comment